banana peels contain a high level of dopamine so the site reccomends : "the research team said it believes consuming banana peel by boiling the peel and drinking the water or by putting it through a fruit juicer and drinking the juice can help ease depression. It suggested drinking banana peel water or juice in the evening, once a day or several times a week. "

wikki says : "Dopamine can be supplied as a medication that acts on the sympathetic nervous system, producing effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. ((However, because dopamine cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, dopamine given as a drug does not directly affect the central nervous system))."

Herein lies the important question : since dopamine by itself cannot cross the BBB to produce psychoactive results (ameliorating depression) but direct administration of dopamine by IV produces other physiological results such as hypertenion ,furthermore Selegiline and L-dopa augment or increase usage INDIRECTLY .What could the possible mechanism be here in banana peel tea that helps depression?

im going to drink banana peel today and sleuth around for some answers myself.My updates and experience report by the end of the day.Input would be greatly appreciated.

banana peels contain a high level of dopamine so the site reccomends : "the research team said it believes consuming banana peel by boiling the peel and drinking the water or by putting it through a fruit juicer and drinking the juice can help ease depression. It suggested drinking banana peel water or juice in the evening, once a day or several times a week. "

wikki says : "Dopamine can be supplied as a medication that acts on the sympathetic nervous system, producing effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. ((However, because dopamine cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, dopamine given as a drug does not directly affect the central nervous system))."

Herein lies the important question : since dopamine by itself cannot cross the BBB to produce psychoactive results (ameliorating depression) but direct administration of dopamine by IV produces other physiological results such as hypertenion ,furthermore Selegiline and L-dopa augment or increase usage INDIRECTLY .What could the possible mechanism be here in banana peel tea that helps depression?

im going to drink banana peel today and sleuth around for some answers myself.My updates and experience report by the end of the day.Input would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think this would be a good idea. First of all you misread the article, which actually says bananas are high in serotonin, not dopamine. There is a reason why pure serotonin is not used clinically; it's not effective and is active in hundreds of other parts of the body, and can easily cause toxicity. Of particular concern, excess serum serotonin can cause heart valve problems. This has been shown in some pacific islanders who eat unripe bananas (they are eaten in a mash made with the peel). Serotonin can also cause nausea; ginger is an effective antiemetic b/c it blocks serotonin receptors in the stomach. The point is, this probably would not be a good idea, because 1) there are known toxic effects of serotonin 2) the mentioned research didn't even study depression 3) there isn't any evidence regarding the safety of consuming banana peels 4) any perceived effect would be minimal, probably placebo.

"serotonin taken orally does not pass into the serotonergic pathways of the central nervous system because it does not cross the blood-brain barrier. However, tryptophan and its metabolite 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), from which serotonin is synthesized, can and do cross the blood-brain barrier. These agents are available as dietary supplements and may be effective serotonergic agents."

"Tryptophan and Serotonin : An urban legend states that the dried skin of the banana fruit contains the fictitious substance "bananadine", and is hallucinogenic when smoked. Unlike many such legends, the origin of this one has been traced. It dates back to an article in the underground newspaper Berkeley Barb in March 1967, and became widespread after William Powell, believing it to be true, included it in The Anarchist Cookbook in 1970.This legend is not entirely without merit: bananas contain tryptophan which, when ingested, increases levels of serotonin in the body (the same effect as Prozac). This can lead to various mood-altering effects (Leathwood and Pollet, 1982) including a reduction in depression (Sainio et al., 1996). As well, Xiao et al. (1998) found that eating just two bananas a day for three days increased levels of serotonin in the blood by 16%. However, there is no mention in the literature of tryptophan having any hallucinogenic effects; it has, in fact, been used to reduce hallucinations in patients with mental disorders (Sainio et al., 1996). It is also debatable whether smoking tryptophan would be successful as a method of administration."

maybe the peels are high in 5HTP. Im suspecting that the dopamine, serotonin or NE arent the only mood enhancing or euphoric agent in the peels -- it could be that multiple psychoactive alkaloids are syngergizing together..so as of yet the mechanism remains unresolved.
but boy do i have a story to share!

i took the peel tea yesterday and felt really really happy but that i dismissed as total placebo effect.
today i yet again took the tea (this time i drank the entire damned pot -- i wanted results )oh boy i sure did get em!.After 3 big mugs i left for class.

after about 30 mins or so i went really "trip happy" - i was giggling and had a lot of problem staying composed , In my radiology class i was busy distinguishing cartoons characters in the HRCTs ended up laughing out loud and was consequently sent out.(yeah for a normal person that wouldve been hint enough ).Not me.
I got online and asked a few of my friends and if theyd be interested in group-experimentation (no details sorry -im still cringing from shame) while i was typing out my offcolored questions i was clapping preiodically and laughing hard at my own jokes.After a while i got bored and decided it was time for a late lunch -- called up a friend who said i was too perked up (probably too much coffee) , at lunch i talked non-stop !! i mean my temples were throbbing... my friend just laughed mostly -- didnt say anything was out of the blue much.

I just got back and seem to have calmed off a bit -- sorry this report isnt as composed as it should be but im not entirely in my element yet.
Im going to take half a valium and lie down -- my bp seems to be up a bit i still feel pressure in my head.

.I made a detailed mood and temperament chart before i consumed the tea and added motor coordination and movement finesse to it too will do a follow up later -- thanks for reading

Plants are a source of many biologically active products and nowadays they are of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry. In the present study, the mutagenic potential of the Musa paradisiaca fruit peel extract was assessed by the single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and micronucleus assays. Animals were treated orally with three different concentrations of the extract (1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/kg body weight). Peripheral blood cells of Swiss mice were collected 24 h after treatment for the SCGE assay and 48 and 72 h for the micronucleus test. The results showed that the two higher doses of the extract of M. paradisiaca induced statistically significant increases in the average numbers of DNA damage in peripheral blood leukocytes for the two higher doses and a significant increase in the mean of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the three doses tested. The polychromatic/normochromatic erythrocyte ratio scored in the treated groups was not statistically different from the negative control. The data obtained indicate that fruit peel extract from M. paradisiaca showed mutagenic effect in the peripheral blood cells of Swiss albino mice.

JLL : "I mixed a whole banana (with skin) into my morning smoothie, but I didn't notice any effect."
however did you get that mush down your throat ? .

tham : "I think the antidepressive effect might come only after
consuming regularly for a few weeks, as with the SSRIs
and tricyclics".
Nopes -- at first when i tried it i got really good results : happy , bright ,uplifted with anyxioltyic results but im more than willing to chalk them upto placebo)
2nd time i increased the dosage and quantity and got hell of a ride in about 30 mins or so -- as was the case the first time -- so yeah i dont think the effects are cumulative.

anyway here is my own recipie:

1)Take 3 nice big bananas.
2)Wash them with a detergent or a detergent based product throughly (skip this if youre buying organic bananas).
3)Blend them in a food processor with hot water.
4)Keep blending till its very liquidated.
5)Add more water and then boil the liquid over low heat till - the color changes to a very dark brownish black
6)Let the mixture steep for half an hour at least.
7)Strain the bananagoodymush into a mug
8)drink and share your experience here at immisnt.

This reminds me of the old anarchist cookbook telling people to smoke bannana peels, I think it said there was a drug in bananas called Bananadine but it was a hoax. I guess there is something to banana peels after all!

I think l-tryptophan pills would be a more reliable source than bananas.

Taiwan researchers have discovered that banana peel extract can ease depression and protect the retina. A research team from Taichung’s Chung Shan Medical University found after two years of research that banana peel is rich in serotonin, which is vital to balancing moods, the Apple Daily newspaper reported.A low level of serotonin in the brain is believed to cause depression although doctors have yet to find out the relationship between depression and low levels of serotonin.The team also found that banana peel extract could protect the retina damage caused by light because it can cause retina cells to regenerate. The research team said it believes consuming banana peel by boiling the peel and drinking the water or by putting it through a fruit juicer and drinking the juice can help to ease depression. This should be consumed once a day or several times a week. Banana peel contains lutein, an antioxidant from carotenoid family which provides nutritional support to the eyes. Lutein can also be found in green leafy vegetables, some fruits and corn.In its clinical tests, the research team exposed two groups of retina cells-one a control group and the other group soaked in a solution of banana peel extract-to strong light six hours a day for two days. A the end of the experiment the control group of retina cells had died while the group soaked in banana peel had regenerated and suffered no damage.

Plants are a source of many biologically active products and nowadays they are of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry. In the present study, the mutagenic potential of the Musa paradisiaca fruit peel extract was assessed by the single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and micronucleus assays. Animals were treated orally with three different concentrations of the extract (1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/kg body weight). Peripheral blood cells of Swiss mice were collected 24 h after treatment for the SCGE assay and 48 and 72 h for the micronucleus test. The results showed that the two higher doses of the extract of M. paradisiaca induced statistically significant increases in the average numbers of DNA damage in peripheral blood leukocytes for the two higher doses and a significant increase in the mean of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the three doses tested. The polychromatic/normochromatic erythrocyte ratio scored in the treated groups was not statistically different from the negative control. The data obtained indicate that fruit peel extract from M. paradisiaca showed mutagenic effect in the peripheral blood cells of Swiss albino mice.

Were the skins of organic bananas used? I'm thinking that conventionally grown bananas would contain pesticides.

Sorry for gravedigging, didn't check dates, I was googling around for info on tryptophan in banana skins and came across this thread.

Sorry for gravedigging, didn't check dates, I was googling around for info on tryptophan in banana skins and came across this thread.

No need to apologize; it's encouraged. Much better than having lots of duplicate threads.

Resurrecting this thread. I've been drastically lowering my carb intake but bananas are one of the few higher sugar items I sometimes eat in my morning protein shakes. I always buy organic, but wondering if anyone else throws in the peel as well? Surely not the really hard top bit? I'm so used to not eating the peel but I bought maybe it would balance out the sugary effect with some more fiber? I remember feeding bananas to elephants in THailand about 15 years ago and watching them eat the whole thing peel and all. Of course it comes back out in relatively short order...

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when I worked in a remote part of the Jamaican mountains back in the 70s we sometimes had a local version of banana porridge for breakfast, made with grated whole green bananas boiled up with condensed milk. The occasional addition of a handful of weed was probably unwise but up there nobody would notice anything out of the ordinary, and I was teaching art so not too much was expected behaviour-wise.